Listening to music while riding on the bus or working out can help the experience go by faster, but every once in a while, you come across one song that really makes you want to bust a move.
Sometimes, the rhythm and lyrics take control and you realize you are singing Adele at the top of your lungs in the middle of a crowded gym. To avoid further cases of public embarrassment, podcasts are a fun listening alternative, and they can cover a variety of topics. The dictionary definition of a podcast, is a digital audio or video file or recording, usually a part of a series, that can be downloaded from a website to a media player or a computer. Here are 10 different podcasts recommended for your listening pleasure.
1. Comedy Bang! Bang!:
Host Scott Aukerman, writer and producer of Funny or Die’s “Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis,” chats with celebrity guests like Jon Hamm, Amy Poehler and Aziz Ansari while they joke around with other comedians and their collection of fun characters. Some of these characters include a feisty child orphan named Fourvel (“Saturday Night Live’s” Bobby Moynihan), frumpy podcast intern Marissa Wompler (“Playing House’s” Jessica St. Clair) and Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders (“Harold & Kumar’s” James Adomian). This Earwolf podcast network production is perfect for those who are interested in absurd humor and love joking around.
2. My Brother, My Brother, and Me:
This comedy-advice podcast, which is often abbreviated down to MBMBaM, is hosted by the McElroy brothers. Each week, fans and listeners provide the brothers with personal questions, to which the brothers give sometimes helpful and mostly hilarious answers. Listeners also send the brothers questions from individuals found on Yahoo! Answers. The Yahoo! questions usually evolve into a funny conversation between the brothers about how ridiculous the question is. On a 2014 episode, a Yahoo! user asked for advice on what to name her Chinchilla breeding business. This spiraled into a back and forth discussion about funny pet store names. This podcast, produced by the Maximum Fun network is not only fun to listen to for the content, but it also interesting to hear the sibling dynamics play out in podcast form.
3. Spontaneanation with Paul F. Tompkins:
This podcast, also produced by the Earwolf network, with comedian Paul F. Tompkins, can be broken down into two parts. The first section of the podcast features Tompkins interviewing a special guest, like “Twilight’ series actress Elizabeth Reaser. During the second half of the podcast, Tompkins invites three of his friends from the improv comedy world to improvise a story in a location provided by the guest. The scenes played out in the improv often feature callbacks to the conversation with the special guest. Many of the locations provide plenty of material for funny improv moments. On the episode featuring “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” actress Kaitlin Olson, she gave the location of a UFC Fight Weigh -In.
4. The Thrilling Adventure Hour:
Go back in time with this old time radio inspired podcast produced by the Nerdist Podcast Network. Each episode of the podcast features recurring segments from the space western “Sparks Nevada, Marshal on Mars”, and paranormal mystery “Beyond Belief.” “Beyond Belief” takes listeners on adventures with high society mediums Frank and Sadie Doyle as they solve spooky cases. “Sparks Nevada, Marshal on Mars,” transports listeners one thousand years in the future to follow space Marshal Sparks Nevada and his sidekick, Croach the Tracker, as they protect the Red Planet from the universe’s galactic threats.
5. Sawbones: A Marital Tour of Misguided Medicine:
In another podcast produced by the Maximum Fun network, Dr. Sydnee McElroy and her husband Justin McElroy entertain the audience with the humorous, wrong and sometimes gruesome ways the medical industry has tried to cure people of their ailments. Some of the ailments discussed by the couple include cures for Hangovers, Malaria and Syphillis.
6. How Did This Get Made?:
Join comedians Paul Scheer, June Diane Raphael and Jason Mantzoukas as they discuss their love and hatred of movies so bad, they wonder how they possibly could have been made. Some of the movies critiqued include the Christmas classic “Jack Frost,” all three “Sharknado” films and the final two “Twilight” movies. This podcast is another member of the Earwolf podcast network family.
7. Before You Were Funny:
During this Feral Audio network podcast, Justin Michael and Jacob Reid invite fellow comedians and writers to read the worst sketches they have written. Most of these sketches were written when the comedians were in high school or at the beginning of their careers. This podcast not only gives comedians a chance to laugh at themselves, but it also shows listeners how far these people have come. Some of the sketch readers include current “Saturday Night Live” cast members Beck Bennett and Kyle Mooney.
8. The JV Club with Janet Varney:
For this Nerdist Podcast Network program, Comedian and actress Janet Varney sits down with her favorite actress friends and talks with them about their awkward teenage years. Varney has talked with celebrities like comedian Sarah Silverman, and “iCarly” star, Jenette McCurdy.
9. Improv4 Humans:
Join founding member of the Upright Citizen’s Brigade comedy group Matt Besser as he brings together other improvisers from the UCB during this fully impromptu podcast. Other founding members of the UCB, like Matt Walsh and Amy Poehler, have also joined Besser on the podcast. This podcast is another member of the prolific Earwolf podcast network.
10. The Nerdist Podcast:
Host Chris Hardwick, and his co-hosts Jonah Ray and Matt Mira, come together in this podcast to discuss weekly happenings and interview celebrities from all forms of entertainment. These celebrities have a wide variety of experience, such as legends like Paul McCartney and Sir Patrick Stewart, to recent stars like Chris Pratt and Oscar Isaac.
Although murder mysteries and dramatic podcasts like Serial have been making a mark on the podcasting industry, the light-hearted and fun podcasts are always fun to listen to. These podcasts are available on iTunes, Pocket Casts, Stitcher Radio and most other podcasting apps.